Vietnam veterans honored at Veterans Day commemoration

by Mary Rupert

Vietnam veterans were honored and presented with service pins Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Veterans Day Commemoration program at the Salvation Army Harbor Light Village, 6723 State Ave., Kansas City, Kan.

While the Veterans Day event also honored all veterans, Vietnam veterans received special mention because of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.

Lt. Col Marc Potter, retired, of Bonner Springs, a Vietnam veteran, was the featured speaker. He was in the ROTC and also served as a military lawyer.

“Somebody watched over me, because I got a delay from active duty, and went on to law school,” Potter said about his military service.

“We call ourselves veterans, and this is Veterans Day, but what does that really mean?” Potter asked. Veterans are people who at one point in their lives wrote a check payable to the United States of America, up to and including their lives, he said.

Without men and women who have enlisted in the service and who are willing to write that check, the freedoms granted by the Constitution and taken for granted by so many would not be worth much, Potter said.

Another speaker at the Veterans Day program, Bob Frank, now retired in Leavenworth, is also a Vietnam War veteran. He was an infantry lieutenant on his first tour in Vietnam, and an infantry captain and helicopter pilot on his second tour of Vietnam.

He told several stories about his Vietnam War days, and recalled that no one of his group was killed on his first tour, but 26 of 60 pilots were killed in his second tour. He was shot down three times, including twice in the same day, he said.

“I’ve got no regrets, I’ve enjoyed what I’ve done, I’ve served with spectacular people,” Frank said. “My heartfelt thanks to all of you who have served.”

“I always kept strong faith in the Guy upstairs – if today’s the day, so be it. I’ll do the best I can,” Frank said. “That’s what got me through.”

Salvation Army Major Beverly Best led an invocation at the annual ceremony. Women’s Chamber of Commerce President Arlana Coleman welcomed those present to the commemoration.

The Salvation Army Ensemble performed. The Piper High School Music in Motion sang the national anthem and the selection, “Tell My Father.”

Unified Government Commissioner Melissa Bynum, one of the founders of the Veterans Day Commemoration here, read a proclamation from the mayor. More than 50,000 soldiers died in the Vietnam War, and more than 300,000 were wounded, she said. “We must never take for granted their contributions and sacrifices,” the proclamation read.

VFW Post 6401 members conducted a flag presentation at the ceremony. Information about the Vietnam War era was on display at the event.

Several Vietnam veterans received a service pin in a presentation by Lt. Col. James P. Holley Jr.

The annual Wyandotte County Veterans Day Commemoration was sponsored by the Women’s Chamber of Commerce of Kansas City, Kan., in partnership with Kansas City, Kan., Convention and Visitors Bureau, Kansas City, Kan., Public Library, VFW Post 6401 and Auxiliaries and the Wyandotte County Museum.